ExAM4Inspections.com got its start because the core capabilities in our Extensible Assessment Manager (ExAM) Salesforce AppExchange product around data collection and evaluation were so well suited to inspections, audit and compliance use cases. I think some of the key areas that made it so popular are:
- Mobile & Offline Functionality. Since inspections and field service use cases regularly occur in areas with limited connectivity, our mobile apps (iOS and Android) help our customers solve issues while benefitting from the Cloud.
- Extensible & Configurable Processes. In order to respond to emerging needs, inspection processes must evolve over time. Our ExAM Command Console makes it easy for organizations to adapt without the need for new code or customer support.
- Workflows, Analytics, & Communities. Through workflows, users can simply automate the next steps that need to be taken after their inspections. What’s more, to support decision-making, data can be converted into action items through the reporting function. Finally, by enabling organizations to securely share inspection data with key stakeholders, we empower them to impact a broader community.
As our work in the inspections and compliance space continued customers kept asking for just a little bit more. One of the first areas for expansion was our focus on ensuring that the deficiencies that emerge from these compliance activities have a means to be rectified. We did this through the implementation of communities and enabling assignments & work orders to help manage the process by which deficiencies are addressed. If you found a broken toilet, it’s important to have a process for fixing or replacing that toilet. Bringing this into the product solved one of the biggest gaps our customers had…the gap between our existing inspection and compliance solutions and the work management solutions in place to resolve them.
Of course once we got into the business of helping our customers manage their work both related to inspections and more generally our customer found a new challenge…that broken toilet needed to be replaced or fixed using parts and assets that needed to be managed through a broader lifecycle. Inventories needed to be tracked and supplies needed to be ordered. We actually resisted the pull for about a year recommending customers look at other solutions in the market. We were worried about becoming too broadly focused.
Fortunately, an enterprising Sales Engineer built up a custom demo showing how ExAM could work with a “Asset & inventory Management” tool. It was just a collection of custom objects and workflows but I happened to be on the demo and I was blown away. It was immediately apparent how powerful the capability could be in supporting a critical part of our customers field services and compliance value chains. We had worried about getting too broad, but it was immediately clear that the customer fit was too perfect to pass up and so ExAM4Assets was born.
Within weeks of socializing the concept with customers we had several volunteers to be early adopters of our first release. For myself I’m excited to see us play a bigger role in helping our customers manage the information they need to make better business decisions in ExAM. We got started in this business to help organizations gather and assess the information they need to make better business decisions. ExAM4Assets fits the bill perfectly, I just wish I’d seen that sooner.
If you’d like to see a demo or learn more. Just reach out to sales@exam4inspections.com.
